Saturday
by LostinOblivion
Summary: Sequel to Today and Tomorrow. FINISHED!
1. Chapter 1

Emily felt like her head was running a dozen different marathons at once. She felt like had everything in the world spinning around in her mind and if she forgot one thing, the entire cycle would collapse. For the last week she'd been absolutely exhausted, but it just kept coming. _Okay, class in an hour, lesson today is on…uh…damn it what was I going to do? Oh, right, right, right, bank robberies. After that Cheryl's having a CNU meeting, about something or another… I promised Lia I'd look at bride books, oh god wait till I tell her we're eloping…remember to bring aspirin. _

Her phone suddenly rang interrupting her string of run-on thoughts and she glanced at the caller id. _Oh great that's all I need right now…_ "Hi mom."

"Hey honey, I'm just checking that you're still coming on Saturday?" Her parents were having a small yuppie barbeque at their home that Saturday, and she told them that she and Matt would come.

"Yep, so long as no on decides to take hostages in L.A. or the surrounding area, we'll be there." Emily said half joking.

"Honey I hate when you joke about your job, you don't seem to realize how dangerous it is." Her mother whined, repeating a variation on her standard comments to her daughter.

"Relax mom. I've been doing this how long and never been hurt?"

"Don't say things like that, next thing you know I'll be getting a call that some psycho shot you."

"Oh god mom, stop being so melodramatic." Emily scolded her as she got to the small cubicle she and Matt shared, her fingers already squeezing the bridge of her nose trying to sooth the headache that was coming.

"I'm not being melodramatic Emily Caroline, I worry about you." Her mother used Emily's middle name to make her point.

"Yes I know, how many times in the last decade have we gone through this?" She half pleaded with her mother. _Saturday was going to suck._

"Too many, and we'll be going through it until you get a normal job."

"Normal? What's normal mom? A secretary? A teacher? A CEO?"

"Yes, they are and so is a lawyer, well corporate, or a doctor, anything that you don't deal with deviants in."

Emily let out a breath, her patience quickly waning. "I really need to go mom, I have work to do at my abnormal job now."

"Alright, remember 2:00 on Saturday. Oh, is Mark allergic to anything?"

"Matt mom, not Mark, Matt, and as far as I know only strawberries. I'll ask him later." By now Emily was gripping the desk so hard her knuckles were white, and Matt who'd been watching her seen she'd gotten there was looking very concerned.

"Alright I'll see you then honey."

"Bye mom." Emily hung up before she received a response. She closed her eyes, and pressed her fingers into her temples, titling her head to the ground.

"Hey, are you okay?" Matt asked her, brushing aside the hair that had fallen in front of her face, so he could see her.

She nodded breathing in. "Can you drive us to my parents house Saturday?"

"Sure, any reason?" He wasn't particularly looking forward to meeting them again, but he was marrying their daughter, he figured he should.

"Yes. I plan on being well on my way to drunk by then." She answered, her face serious.

"Oh that'll really endear me to your parents, bringing you drunk."

"Matt, the only thing that will ever endear you to my parents is telling them you got me to quit my job and become a teacher or something 'normal.'" She commented using air quotes to convey her sarcasm.

"Well at the very least we have to stay long enough to tell them we're engaged. After we get that over with we can leave and not see them until the wedding."

She raised an eyebrow at his mention of a wedding.

"You really don't want a wedding?" He wasn't sure if she was kidding when she suggested eloping.

"Wearing a gaudy dress, in a gaudy church filled with my parents and hundred people, 75 of which neither of us have seen in years and whose names we barely remember? No I don't want that. Why? Do you?" She suddenly realized after her diatribe that he might actually want what she was describing

"Not really, but isn't that every girl's dream? Fancy, formal wedding, ten thousand dollar wedding dress, and prince charming?" He asked her curiously. Emily had a habit of constantly turning everything he thought he knew about women upside down.

"I got over that in high school. Although I could still go for the dress." She told him with a smile.

"Good, maybe Lia won't kill you. All that babble the other night about lace and flowers and what the hell did she say-taffeta-made my head spin." He said recalling with horror that was listening to a woman gush about the weird things that make dresses.

"I'm supposed to look at dress catalogues with her tonight."

"You're not coming over?" He pouted, pretending to be hurt.

"Well why don't you come to my apartment later tonight after she leaves." Emily practically purred in his ear.

"You expect me to wait until after your class, a meeting, and Lia wedding talk with _that_ on my mind?" He teased her.

"Oh shit class. What time is it?" She said suddenly, smacking her forehead.

"Uh, oh…two minutes until three." She had class at three, ten floors down.

"Damn it, Damn it, Damn it…"she cursed as she gathered her materials and nearly knocked Cheryl over as she came out of her office, Emily disappearing in the elevator.

Cheryl rebalanced herself after whirlwind Emily passed her, and looked at Matt. "Is she okay?"

"I don't know. I think it's just stress, she's been scattered like this for the last two weeks." He would have blamed their engagement, but that was almost a month ago.

"I've noticed. I'm a little worried about her. Do you two want a vacation?" Cheryl suddenly asked, surprising Matt.

"Uh, can't say I'd mind it. We still have about a dozen cases we need to finish paperwork on to close though." There had been a string of negotiations that last month that was likely one of the reasons Emily was so frantic.

"Well let me know when you guys get those done. You've both earned a break." Cheryl told him before heading back to her office.

Matt went back to his paperwork, the massive Everest –sized pile that just kept growing no matter how much he did. He was thrilled Emily really wanted to elope; it wasn't like his family would be at their wedding anyway. He couldn't deny that he was a little worried about her though.

Lately she'd been tired and impatient, not at all like she was normally. She always seemed like she had something on her mind, or rather several things. She hadn't relaxed in two weeks, acting as if she was on some sort of caffeine high that just wouldn't quite. Of course after a day of this she'd end up passed out by nine o'clock, generally falling asleep leaning on him as they sat on the couch. Even that past weekend she'd slept later than he'd ever seen her do before, close to noon. And then she passed out at ten. He'd tried asking her about it, but she just shrugged and said it was because they were so busy at work.

* * *

Emily was busy in her class, trying to concentrate on her notes. Though it wasn't like she needed them half the time, she had enough experience to teach just from that. Flipping the page in her training guide, she lifted her head to address her class when the room suddenly seemed to tilt before her eyes. Shaking her head and blinking seemed to stand the world upright again, but she made a mental note to eat better and get more sleep.

Not that she hadn't been sleeping enough lately, she slept more in the last two weeks than she had in the month before it. Matt was beginning to worry, and she had no idea what to tell him. She should probably see her doctor, but she couldn't help but think it was just stress, and she hated going to the doctor.

Mildly concerned, she decided to go slow and keep behind her little podium, in case she needed to lean on it. She began telling her class about a recent bank robber she and Matt and talked out of executing a dozen people. He'd come very close, but they'd managed to successfully get him out in the end.

Forty-five minutes later, as she was explaining the uniqueness of dealing with bank robbers due to their monetary motives, her world began to tilt again and dim slightly. Grabbing the podium and breathing in deeply, she closed her eyes struggling to regain her composure. The rows of seats in front of her had once again righted themselves and settled, allowing her to finish her lecture, before letting her class out five minutes early and collapsing on a chair.

* * *

Matt was waiting plagued by boredom in the conference room with Cheryl and the rest of the negotiators in the CNU. Emily hadn't arrived yet. Meanwhile, everyone else milled around, waiting for Cheryl to start the meeting. Cheryl signaled everyone to sit down, which they all began to do grudgingly, Emily rushing in as the last few people sat down.

"Ok, first you've all been doing very well. Washington sends kudos. However they are also sending us a few changes to how negotiations go. And before you all start whining, hardly any of it is actually going to matter." She assured them.

After fifty minutes of this, Cheryl could tell she was losing her negotiators. Heads rested on hands, a few played distractedly with paper or pens, Temple was yawning, and to her surprise it looked like Emily had fallen asleep. She watched Matt gently nudge his fiancé awake, smiling amusedly at her. That was another problem Cheryl had to think about, who was she going put partner them with?

"Alright, I doubt any of you caught the last ten minutes of what I said, so get out of here, go home." She waved them out, gathering the stack of papers Washington had faxed to her as a new year update, even if it was March.

They all responded eagerly jumping up and suddenly full of energy and laughing tore out, ready to go home. There were only a few people left in the room as Emily and Matt got up, talking quietly. After a few moments of chatter and gathering their things, Emily turned toward the door, and starting walking out, Matt right behind her. After only three or four steps, she stopped suddenly as her vision began to darken and the doorway was suddenly turned on a diagonal. She didn't have time to think and she didn't hear Matt as her if she was alright before her world darkened completely.

"Em? Emily!" Matt called to her as he lunged forward barely catching her before she hit the ground, and then slowly sinking down with her.

The remaining four people in the room now had their complete focus on Matt and Emily, concerned looks over all their faces, Cheryl racing over to the couple.

"Shit, shit, come on Em, wake up." Matt begged as he shook her slightly, frightened and completely unprepared to deal with the reality before him.

"Matt what happened?" Cheryl hurried over, concern lacing her voice and in her eyes.

"I don't know, she just passed out." Matt gently tapped at Emily's cheek, trying to get her to wake up.

"Banks call 911." Cheryl ordered one of the three men staring at them.

"Come on Em, you have to wake up now." Matt coaxed nervously. Cheryl grabbed her wrist checking her pulse, which as far as she could tell seemed fine.

"Yeah I need an ambulance at FBI L.A." Agent Banks stated into his cell phone, saying a few more things before snapping it shut, and walking out to meet the ambulance.

"Has she been eating? Drinking?" Cheryl asked a very worried Matt.

"She said she felt a little sick last night, but I had lunch with her today, she was fine." He said helplessly, no clue what do.

"I'm sure she's fine, probably just overworking herself." Cheryl tried to convince both of them, as Matt just sat by Emily, holding her hand.

* * *

Twenty minutes later the ambulance was screaming and flashing its way toward the hospital, a very anxious Matt rubbing circles on top of Emily's hand. He sat that way for the duration of the trip, never taking his eyes off her, his brain generating every horrible thing that could be wrong with her. _He knew something was off with her lately, he should have made her see a doctor. Why didn't he force her to talk to him? Why didn't he just tell her that he was worried about her? _

They pulled into the loading area of the hospital after a ride that lasted forever, and Matt was soon brushed away by the doctors who took her away to examine. As far as triage goes, unconscious people move to the front of the line and get their own room. So he sat and waited, his legs jumping up and down even as he sat, his palms so sweaty it felt like he'd just dipped them into water.

Lia arrived after about five minutes, dragging Duff with her. She'd seen the paramedics from the analysis room and immediately went out to see what happened. She was surprised to see Matt sitting on the floor by Emily, who almost looked like she was sleeping. She'd called Duff and told him they were going to the hospital, and Duff, knowing a good thing when he had one, chose not to argue with her, and instead met her right away.

Now the two sat down by Matt, who looked like he might explode if a doctor didn't come out to talk to him. Matt continued dancing in his seat, running his hands through his hair, playing with a rubber band he'd acquired at some point, anything to keep himself busy. When a doctor finally came of the room, he jumped out of his seat so fast he nearly fell over.

"Agent Flannery?" The doctor asked.

"Yeah, uh is she okay?"

"She's awake and seems to be unharmed. I'm going to run a few blood tests, and hopefully we'll figure this out soon." He explained.

"What do you think is wrong with her?" Matt asked, almost timidly.

"It's hard to say, but like I said the blood tests should tell us." He smiled encouragingly at Matt.

"Can I see her?"

"Go right ahead in, the nurse is just drawing blood." He nodded toward the door, before leaving the group.

Matt turned toward his friends as if to ask if they were coming.

"Go ahead Matt, we'll be there in a few minutes. I want to call Cheryl." Lia told him, grabbing Duff and heading off to find a phone.

Matt walked in the room to find a very bored Emily watching the nurse suck blood from her right arm, but when she saw Matt walk in she smiled. He waited awkwardly at the end of the bed until the nurse finished taking blood, and left, nodding at Matt. Matt walked over to the side of the bed, and leaned over kissing Emily, long and sweet, before letting them both up for air, resting his forehead against hers.

"You scared the hell out of me." He told her softly.

"What happened, I don't really remember." She confessed.

"Wait, you remember the meeting right?" He, he pulled back from her, suddenly concerned, amnesia?

"Yes, and I remember getting up to leave, and that's it."

"You just fainted." He stated bluntly.

"Oh." The puzzled expression on her face told Matt that this was as awkward for her as it was for him.

"How do you feel?"

"Fine," she shrugged, certainly not like she needed to be in a hospital.

He gave her a look that said he didn't quite believe her.

"I swear Matt, I feel fine. I'd really just like to get out of here," she told him honestly.

"Emily, you fainted. I held you limp and unconscious in my arms; we aren't leaving this hospital until they tell me why." The fear in his eyes showed Emily just how worried he'd been. She grabbed his hand and put it over her heart, simultaneously bringing him closer to her, his face inches from hers.

"You feel that? The nurse even commented on how healthy it sounds. Stop worrying so much." She used a teasing tone on the last part, trying to keep the mood light.

"Never," he told her, his eyes filled with conviction. "When I saw you fall I nearly panicked. When I saw you were unconscious my heart was beating so fast I could hear it in my ears like I was in an auditorium full of drums. And, when I saw them race in here with you on the gurney I almost stopped breathing."

She gave him a sad smile, and sitting on the edge of the bed, wrapped her arms around him, hoping to reassure him that she was alright. He responded similarly, pulling her tightly to him and inhaling her hair.

They sat like that for the next twenty minutes, until Lia and Duff shyly poked their heads in, hoping they didn't interrupt anything. They broke apart, Emily shimming back on the bed, pretending to be the good patient that she wasn't, while Matt scooted back into his chair, running a had through his hair.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Lia asked giving her a quick hug.

"I was just telling Matt that I feel fine, and would love to get out of here." Emily told her with a smile, hoping to allay her friend's worries.

"Well you better get comfortable in that bed, getting blood tests done in ERs takes forever." Lia announced.

Lia proved to be right, another hour passed and Cheryl joined them, giving Emily the same concerned look everybody else had, and threatening her with paperwork if she tried to come in tomorrow.

Another hour later Frank showed up, giving the group a curious look, as they all showed the same shoot-me-I'm-so-bored expression. Emily had tried to get them to leave, insisting she'd be fine, but Lia wouldn't leave, so neither would Duff, and Cheryl wasn't moving until the doctor came back with results.

Finally after another hour and forty-five minutes, just as Lia was threatening to start truth or dare, the doctor came back in, looking way to cheerful to be an ER doctor.

"Hello, my your quite popular Ms. Lehman. I've got your test results back…if you'd all excuse us for a few moments?" He asked the group.

When all but Matt had left, the doctor gave Emily a quick questioning look, confirming he was staying before addressing them.

"It isn't so often that I get to give good news. The blood tests confirmed my first suspicions, you're pregnant." He told her beaming.

Emily knew if she'd been standing she would be flat on her butt after that, she couldn't think, she just stared at the doctor in complete shock.

Matt could feel his mouth open and close several times, as if he was trying to mimic a fish. His palms began to sweat and he could feel his head spinning.

"Uh I can see this has come as a bit of a surprise for you both. I'm not sure how many weeks you are yet, but I have another doctor coming for a consult. Patricia Reener is an excellent OB/GYN, and she's going to examine you briefly before we discharge you. You'll of course need to make an appointment with your own doctor as soon as possible." He looked at the couple, waiting for the barrage of questions that usually accompanied a diagnosis.

They just continued to watch him with expressions that surpassed "a deer caught in headlights" and became "a deer two milliseconds before being squished by a tractor-trailer".

"Uh…I'm having a nurse prepare some pamplets for you and pregnancy, labor, and such…should I have her also include some on adoption?" He asked, and when they didn't respond, "and termination, there are several clinics in the area-"

It was Matt who cut him off, "No, no, I don't believe that will be necessary." He looked at Emily, who nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Okay then, I'll leave you two for a minute. Would you like me to send all your friends back in?" He asked them, giving both a worried look. Emily nodded, it was now or in ten minutes.

* * *

This one was a little longer than its predeccesors so I have one more part to finish before the story is done. Hope you all enjoyed, and thanks for reading and reviewing. And I gotta say, April 6th? Fox is killing me with these constant delays! 


	2. Chapter 2

Two minutes after the doctor left them to process he life-changing news, their friends began piling back in. The four people took in their friends' shocked expressions, and all suddenly became even more worried.

"Oh god," Lia breathed, "how sick are you?"

"Not." Emily blurted, still not quite thinking.

"What?" she received four very confused looks.

"I'm not sick, I'm, uh…I'm pregnant." She stuttered out, why was that so hard to say? Probably because she didn't quite believe it yet.

Cheryl's mouth fell open, Lia's eyes went wide, Franked looked ecstatic (something else to tease Matt about), and Duff simply settled for, "Whoa."

"Um congratulations." Cheryl was finally able to catch up with her thoughts and form a sentence (well, sort of sentence).

"Yeah, yeah," Lia quickly agreed, "are you guys happy about this?"

Neither half of the couple spoke; Matt looked scared to death, and Emily possessed a distinct look of hopelessness. This wasn't planned. They'd never talked about this. They weren't married- hell they were still partners.

"Alright, Emily- oh my," a doctor, who come in looking at a chart cut herself off as she looked up and saw the crowd. "Everybody's got to clear out, except the father of the baby…I imagine that's you?" She asked looking at Matt, who still sat by Emily.

'Uh, yeah, that's me."

"Ok, I'm Patricia Reener, the OB doing the consult, so I need the rest of you are going to have to leave for a little while so I can examine Emily." She explained as she shooed them out. "I know this came as a shock to the two of you, so I'll try to go through this as quick as possible so you can get out of here an process this."

They both nodded gratefully.

"Okay, it says here that you don't smoke, but you drink on occasion?" The doctor asked.

"Yeah, a few times a week." Emily said quietly, already feeling like she'd failed as a mother.

"Is this heavy drinking, or more like a glass of wine or a cocktail?"

"The latter, I haven't done any heavy drinking since college."

"And you haven't been on any prescriptions during that time, nothing I should know about?"

"No, nothing but the alcohol."

"Alright, well I'm not too worried about it. A lot of women drink before they know they're pregnant, it can't be helped. First I'm going to do vaginal exam, and when the nurse gets here, I'll do the sonogram, see if we can't find out how long this little one's been in there." She said smiling at them.

Matt sat uncomfortably by Emily as the doctor prodded around between her legs. This was not something guys enjoyed being part of, but he'd have to get used to it over the next several months. They hadn't looked at each other since before the first doctor had cheerfully dropped this bomb on them, but Matt watched her through the exam, and when she began to look very uncomfortable he grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. She gave him a look that was a combination of surprise and gratitude.

A nurse came in with a machine laden cart, which she parked by the head of the bed, and began setting up, plugging things in, turning things on. Dr. Reener finished, stripping off her gloves and tossing them in the infectious waster bin.

"Everything looks great from there, so how's about we take a look inside your belly." Emily just nodded, did she really have a choice anyway?

She squeezed an excessive amount of green goop on Emily's abdomen, eliciting a small jump from her patient, startled by the sudden coolness. Straightening the cord of the wand, she placed it gently on top of the goop, and began making moving it around. An odd sort of picture popped up, black and white, and barely able to be deciphered.

"Okay you see this little thing right here, it looks like a bean?" She pointed out a tiny spot on the ultrasound picture.

"That's the baby?" Matt asked quietly.

"Yep, that little thing is your baby. And the fetus looks to be about five weeks old, give or take. So everything looks healthy with the baby, how's the mommy been feeling?" At that moment Emily realized that if people spent the next nine months referring her as a 'mommy', she was going to vomit or maybe kill someone.

"I see here that your iron is a little low, and your blood sugar is a bit off." She was back to studying the chart, leaving the nurse to chart away the ultrasound machine.

"Is that why I fainted?"

"Looks like it. I'm going to write you a prescription for a month of prenatal vitamins; you can get another one from your regular doctor. But, Emily, you also need to be more vigilant with your diet. Make sure you eat all three meals of the day, and snacking won't hurt either. If you want to keep you iron up, the vitamins will help a little, but you might want to consider eating more red meet, or dark green vegetables, like kale, asparagus, that sort of thing. I want you to take it easy the next few days too, the baby is draining your energy, take it easy so you can get it back. You guys have any questions?" she finished he monolog, and smiled at them.

When neither of them responded she greeted the nurse as she came back in, a stack of papers in her hand. Reener took the stack from the nurse and turned back to Matt and Emily.

"Here is some information on what you can expect during your pregnancy, labor, and afterwards health wise. And here is the first picture of your baby." She held up the sonogram photo the nurse had brought in with the pamphlets.

"So, still no questions?" She asked again, handing Matt the pile of information. They shook their heads. "Ok then, I'll fill out the discharge papers. Congratulations to you both." She smiled and the couple was left alone again.

Twenty minutes later a still shocked couple sat in their bosses SUV, staring blankly at the passing road. Cheryl looked toward occasionally, concern written on her face. Neither had said much as they walked out of the hospital, just that Emily wouldn't be in the field the next few days. They hadn't even said anything to each other, and that was what was worrying her.

When she pulled into the FBI's underground lot, the couple simply got out and walked into the building, aiming for the elevators that would take them to their office to collected their things before heading home. They were silent, eyes still blankly staring into space as the elevator ascended to their floor, and only spoke when they bid Cheryl goodbye, once again aiming for the elevator. Cheryl just plopped down in her office, not quite sure what to think of the couple.

They only spoke when they were driving out of the garage, and this was begun by Emily's anguished voice.

"We'll have to tell my parents when we see them on Saturday."

"We can't wait a little longer, until we've processed this?" Matt practically begged.

"They'll know something's up when I don't drink." She told him before they fell back into silence.

"Did you forget to take a pill?" Matt suddenly asked her.

"What?" She said surprised.

"Did you forget to take one of you birth control pills?"

"I don't know, I don't remember, maybe, why?" She said all at once.

"Because I don't know how else this would have happened. Isn't that stuff like 100 percent effective?"

"No, more like 99 percent." She corrected him.

"And we're the 1 percent? What are the odds?" His tone wasn't accusatory, but it wasn't exactly friendly.

"Do you actually think I did this on purpose?" She demanded incredulously.

"Of course not, I just…I just…" He stammered.

"You just what?" She asked angrily.

"I'm just not ready for this." He sighed. He'd pulled up in front of their building by now, and parked the car, but both kept their seats, still too involved in conversation.

"You think I am? You think I'm not scared to death?"

"It's not just this, it's everything is changing so fast. I didn't, I didn't expect it to be this fast."

"I get the baby, but what is everything, the engagement?" She asked, suddenly uneasy.

"I guess, the new partners, you parents, everything."

"Matt what did you think was going to happen when you proposed to me? That you'd just be calling me your fiancé instead of girlfriend?"

"No, I knew things would change, I jus- I wasn't expecting it this fast." He explained dejectedly. Emily was silent for a minute before speaking quietly.

"Matt, do you think you made a mistake?"

Matt sat staring at her, how could she ever think that? He didn't answer quick enough, because what she took to be a confirmation, was his frazzled mind trying to figure out what to say to make this better. He felt something fall in his lap and looked up to see the door closing as Emily ran off, waving her hand to hail a cab. Looking at the small object in his lap, he suddenly felt ill, it was the ring he'd proposed with.

Gathering his senses, he lunged out of the car, and ran after her, not making it before she closed the cab door, but arriving just early enough to see a tearful Emily motion the driver to go.

He imeadiately dialed her cellphone, leaving a distraught, breathless message. "Em I'm sorry! Please just buzz me up so we can talk. I didn't mean what you thought I meant okay! Please just let me talk to you!" He hung up and dialed again, and again she didn't pick up, so he called several more times, but nothing.

Once in his car he dialed another number.

"Carrera."

"I just screwed everything up." He spoke miserably into the phone.

"Matt?"

"She won't talk to me Cheryl, she thinks I think the engagement was a mistake, but I don't think that, but she's upset, and won't talk to me." He moaned.

"Matt where are you?" She hoped to god he hadn't gotten to a bar.

"Driving, away from her building." He had never sounded quite so pathetic.

"Ok, Eliot is at work late tonight. Come over to my apartment, I don't want you getting sloshed at some bar and trying to drive home." Matt could almost see her shaking her head in exasperation.

Once he arrived there, her greeting was a look of annoyance and a harsh demand. Before he could open his mouth, his phone rang and he hurriedly answered it.

"Em?"

"No, it's Lia."

"Lia, is Emily with you?"

"Yeah, she just stopped crying. You're an idiot Matt, but I figured you'd still want to know that she's alright, and she's staying with me tonight."

"I didn't mean what she thought I meant Lia."

"That doesn't really matter, she thinks you did. Oh, she's back from the bathroom. I just wanted to let you know that she was here." Lia said handing up.

Matt turned back to Cheryl.

"What the hell did you manage to say in under half and hour that pissed Emily off so much?"

"We were talking about the baby…" Matt rehashed the whole argument for Cheryl, cringing whenever she gave him one of those I can't believe you said that looks.

"Wait, what did you say when she asked you if you thought you made a mistake?" Cheryl struggled to keep the sentence understandable.

"I didn't say anything." He told her innocently.

'Oh Matt! You didn't!" She yelled at him.

"What! What? I didn't tell her it was mistake!" Poor Matt had no idea what he'd done wrong.

"You idiot! The fact that you had to think about it was a yes to her." Cheryl explained to him, shaking her head.

"But I didn't have to think about it! I just was trying to figure out what to say to get myself out of the hole I was digging."

"How is it that with your job you didn't know what a pause means?"

"I, I wasn't thinking in negotiator mode. I was thinking like a freaked out guy, whose life got turned upside down." He whined.

"You don't think she was feeling the same way? The two of you came out of that hospital looking like you were just told that you were being evacuated to Pluto."

"What?" He asked her confused.

"That's my point."

"God Cheryl, how do I fix this?" He begged her.

"Do you like those jeans?" She asked seemingly randomly.

"What?"

"Those jeans, they're not a favorite pair or anything, are they?"

"Not really, why?" Matt was now completely confused. Cheryl smirked at him before answering.

"Because you're going to be on your knees for a while."

The Next Day

Matt had shimmied inside the door to Lia's building just as someone was leaving, for what her presumed to be work. He was going to talk to her and fix this not matter what it took. His hands were sweating profusely, making it difficult for him to hold on to the objects in his hands. Taking a deep breath, he shifted the bag in his right hand to his left, and knocked gently on her door. At 7:00 in the morning they had to still be home. He supposed he could have waited until he saw her at work, but he would rather not bring their personal lives any more into their work than they already had.

"Matt." Lia sighed as she opened the door and saw him.

"I just want to talk to Emily, explain things," he pled with her.

"Hey Emily, Matt's here." Lia called behind her.

Emily appeared from the back of the apartment; she looked exhausted and less than pleased to see him. She crossed half the distance toward him, but made no move to go further.

"Just give me ten minutes," he asked her before speaking again after seeing her dubious expression. "Please Em, just ten minutes."

"Fine. Come in." Lia opened the door wider allowing him in, before grabbing her purse and turning to leave.

"I'm going to head to work now, you'll be okay Emily?"

Emily nodded, so Lia left, figuring the couple would need privacy to talk, and besides this would give her a little extra time with a certain HRT agent.

Emily then walked closer to Matt meeting him halfway, facing him reluctantly, as he handed her the bouquet of two dozen yellow and red roses. She'd barely blinked at the sight of the roses.

"They're pretty. Thank you." She told him quietly. "Why yellow?"

"For the baby. They didn't have blue, and I couldn't just get pink, since we don't know what we're having, so…" He trailed off awkwardly.

She gave him just enough of a smile to make him slightly more confident.

"Uh, I have something else…um, you want to sit?" He asked turning toward the couch.

She nodded and followed him, sitting on the opposite end of the couch from him.

"Listen, yesterday when I paused before answering, that wasn't confirmation. I do not think I made a mistake Em. In fact I know I consider proposing to you one of my smarter moments." He told her with a half smile.

She just continued watching him, nothing on her face to give away what was going on in her head.

"I'm just scared. Everything is going really fast, and I know, I know you're scared too. I just wasn't thinking too clearly yesterday. I love you, and I love the baby. It's just going to take some time to get used to everything." By the time he finished talking, he'd scooted closer to her, and grabbed her hands, holding them gently in his own.

Emily didn't say a word, just kept watching him with the same sad, exhausted look she'd been wearing when she opened the door. Getting more nervous, Matt settled for handing her the bag he'd come in with.

She took it, lethargically pulling it open and shifted the tissue paper around, before pulling out a small baby blanket. It looked older than she would have expected, and had a lamb on a yellow background one side, and black and white cow print on the underside. Emily looked at Matt with a slightly amused smile and a lifted eyebrow.

"My mother started making baby blankets for my brother and I before we were born. She finished mine when I was seven; I guess she wasn't so great with the home-making thing. She liked the farm idea," he explained shyly. "When I left home, this was one of the few things I took. When we bring the baby home from the hospital, I want him- or her- to be wrapped in it."

Emily dropped his hands, and leaned up, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm scared too Matt; I can't do this alone."

Matt could feel traces of wet heat on his shoulder, "You won't be alone; I'm not going anywhere. I'm sorry I put my foot in my mouth yesterday," he told her, wrapping his arms around her.

The couple's embrace was broken by a hissed curse from Emily, after checking her watch. "Shit, we're going to be late Matt. It's a five to eight."

"Didn't the doctor tell you to take it easy?"

"That doesn't mean I can't go to work." Emily told him, searching for her purse.

"Do you still want to elope?"

She looked up from where she was searching under the couch, "Now more than ever."

"I hear Fiji is great this time of year." Matt commented seriously.

"Are you serious?" She asked incredulously.

"Absolutely. We can call out sick, demand use of all the vacation days that I know we both have saved up, and head to Fiji. We can get married, and you can relax, like the doctor said." He told her, pulling her toward him.

"That sounds so good." She sighed, leaning against him.

He watched as she nearly nodded off, as she rested against him, and then pulled his phone out. After a quick conversation/argument with Cheryl, he hung up, and the couple began to prepare for their vacation.

* * *

Three days later, on the Saturday they should have been at Emily's parents, gold bands encircling their left fingers, smiles on their faces, and towels spread out on a pale, sandy beach, Matt and Emily were happy and relaxed. Matt was off cooling off in the aqua-blue ocean, swim trunks, no speedo, enjoying the break from the city. Emily was laying on a white beach towel from the hotel, slathered in sunscreen, sunglasses protecting her eyes from the harsh rays of the sun, and half asleep.

She called her mother earlier that morning to inform her that she and Matt would not be at the barbeque that afternoon. Needless to say, the woman was severely displeased, and demanded her daughter give her 'one good reason why she couldn't come.' Cringing at her mother's tone Emily explained that they were out of the country, lying through her teeth that they were helping Mexico on another case. Of course this earned her some harsh screaming, her mother knew a watered down version of their last tryst in Mexico. She unfortunately seen the bandage on Emily's arm and demanded a full accounting of how it happened. This had been the day her parents had first met Matt, and he'd quickly learned why Emily didn't spend too much time with them. Poor Matt, her father had given her boyfriend his 'Inquisition' stared the whole time, and her mother rambled on, demanded to know about Matt's family, monetary status, and intentions for her daughter.

But, now Emily was avoiding thinking about the hell they'd be subjected to once they got home. It wasn't too hard to do this with a vivid blue sky above her, the aqua sea in the near distance, and sand below, even if it would end up in every crack and crevice in her body before the vacation was over. Than her phone rang.

Unfortunately she did have a signal on the beach, and had stupidly brought her phone with her. The caller ID showed her it was Cheryl. Safe enough she decided, and picked up the call.

"Hey Cheryl." She said cheerfully.

"How's the vacation going?"

"Wonderfully. It's been way too long." Emily answered lazily.

"Glad to hear it, you guys at the beach?" Cheryl commented amused.

"Yeah, I'm laying here on the sand, Matt's swimming."

"How are you feeling?"

"Better. I'd kill for one of those spiked fruity drinks, but I'm completely relaxed and fine."

"Great. So, I need a little favor from you guys." Cheryl sounded unhappy.

"We're in Fiji, can it wait till we get home?"

"Not really. I've just had two sets of negotiators piss off an HT; I need you and Matt to talk to him."

"What?!"

"If we don't placate him soon, he's going to kill the seven people he has hostage." She was nearly begging now.

"You want us to get a flight home in time to talk to this guy?" Emily asked in disbelief.

"Of course not, that's ridiculous."

"Then I don't think I understand Cheryl, what do you want us to do?"

"I want to patch him through to you, and I want you to talk to him long distance." She explained, knowing it sounded slightly ludicrous.

"You think that will actually work?" Emily's tone suggested she shared her boss's opinion.

"We don't have much of a choice."

"What's going to happen when we retire?" Emily asked exasperatedly.

"L.A. will plunge into chaos," Cheryl answered sarcastically, before asking, "So will you do it?"

"Yeah, yeah, what do you know?" Emily listened intently while Cheryl explained what they knew about their HT. After five minutes, she saw Matt rise from the ocean, and come eagerly over to her.

He saw her on the phone and mouthed, "Who?"

"Alright Cheryl, patch him through. We'll see what we can do." Then she covered the mouthpiece and looked to Matt.

He'd evidently caught the conversation, "Who's she patching through?"

"Their latest HT." Emily told him without amusement.

"You've got to be kidding…right?"

Emily suddenly turned back to the phone, "So Jeffery, I'm Emily, why don't you tell me how the hostages are doing in there?"

Matt ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head in complete disbelief. Would they never escape their job?

* * *

This is where I was going to end it originally, but since people seemed interested in Emily's mother's reaction, I'm writing another part. So, I hope you enjoyed it through this point, thanks for reading and reviewing. And thanks to spring break (thank god for it), the next part should be up fairly soon.


	3. Chapter 3

The following Saturday the couple was off to an L.A. suburb to face the music with Emily's parents. They'd gotten back from Fiji two days ago, and announce their marriage to their friends yesterday. After many congratulations, hugs, kisses, and Lia squealing, they were once again taken to the group's bar to celebrate, though of course Emily didn't drink anything.

It was here that Cheryl told them that Matt would meet his new partner, Anthony Marcellis, a transfer from New York on the following Monday. Marcellis, while not in the top five as Matt and Emily are, is still a high experienced negotiator, and they'd begin working together immediately. Emily, on the other hand, wasn't going to get a new partner until after she had the baby, considering she couldn't be in the field anyway. She'd continue teaching, and Washington had a special assignment for her over the next several months. She'd be visiting jailed HTs at federal prisons, and using her psychology background to do a study on what made them snap.

But now Emily gave Matt the final directions as he pulled onto yet another road that looked exactly like the last three, as they winded through the housing development. Sure he'd been there once, but how the hell can you find anything, when everything looks the same? He couldn't figure out how to tell the cookie cutter houses apart, and when he asked Emily she just shrugged and said it was just instinct at that point. Shaking his head in confusion, Matt pulled into the driveway of one of the huge, obviously expensive, white houses in the development.

He noticed as they walked up the pathway to the house that Emily seemed nervous, so with the hand that wasn't armed with a bouquet of flowers he grabbed Emily's hand and gave it a squeeze. She turned and gave him a grateful look before knocking. What she wouldn't give to not be pregnant right now so she could get mightily sloshed before doing this. After only a few seconds the door opened to reveal a bubbly women with hair that was only still blonde because she kept it dyed, and Emily's blue eyes.

"I don't believe L.A.'s let me have a day with my daughter." She commented with a smile.

"Hi mom," Emily hugged her mother, "You remember Matt."

"Of course, it's good to see you again Matt," she said as the engage in an awkward hug.

"Likewise Mrs. Lehman," he told her nervously, handing her the flowers.

"They're beautiful, thank you. And Matt, I told you, you can call me Bonnie," she insisted.

"Of course."

"Harold, the kids are here!" She called at the back of the house, as she led them in, retrieving a vase for the flowers Matt had handed her.

Moments later a man with salt and pepper hair, brown eyes, and a very manicured beard popped in from the back porch.

"Ah, there's my little girl," he said jovially as he embraced his daughter tightly.

"Hey dad, how've you been?"

"Fantastic, I beat Mark Bennington, and Andrew Goldstein yesterday in our golf game," he told her, referring to two of his oldest friends.

"Don't you always beat them?" She asked with a smirk.

"Why do you think I play them all the time?" He smiled at her, "And it's Matt right?"

Matt nodded and shook hands with the man who suddenly gave him his attention.

"How's the fish coming Harold?" Bonnie asked as she rejoined the group, setting the vase down on the glass-topped coffee table.

"Nearly done, in fact we can start getting ready for lunch, when we're ready the salmon will be too," he announced leading them out to the patio.

An hour later after an only slightly awkward lunch, where Emily kept her left hand hidden, the group moved to the more comfortable cushioned patio seats. Harold's 'Inquisition stare' was evidently a one-time thing, as he behaved completely civil to Matt the whole time, with no staring or even glaring. Matt and Emily knew it was now or never, and braced themselves for what they knew would be coming.

"So how did your case in Mexico go? Nothing appears to be bandaged this time, so I imagine it must have gone better than the last time?" Bonnie gave them a scrutinizing look.

"It went fine mom, as it usually does. That last time was a rarity, I told you that."

"If it's such a rarity then why'd it happen to you?" She demanded before turning to Matt, "Did she tell you what happened to her in Mexico Matt?"

With that simple question Matt suddenly remembered that they didn't even know he was Emily's partner. Matt didn't really know what to say, but fortunately Emily spoke before he had to.

"Actually mom, Matt was in Mexico."

"Really? I though negotiators worked in pairs? How many did they send down there?"

"Just the two of us mom, Matt's my partner or was, rather."

"Oh," was all was all she said, her mouth holding the 'o' shape longer than expected. Though the way she said 'oh' is the way you say it when someone tells you that the ugly little dog that looks like a cross between a rat and a disfigured monkey is actually theirs.

"Does your boss know about this Emily?" Her father's face took on a very disappointed look.

"Yes, that's why we aren't partners anymore. Part of the reason."

"Is he taking disciplinary action?"

"No Dad, she isn't."

"Well then, you are very lucky."

She shrugged, "Maybe."

"Emily how can you be so nonchalant about this, you could have very well been risking your career." Her mother scolded her.

"Why does that matter to you, mom? You hate my job."

"Be that as it may, I know you like your job and worked hard to get where you are, and to risk it all for some time under the sheets it's irresponsible. And anyway, you can't really expect much of a relationship to come from dating a coworker. Honestly Emily, sometimes I wonder where your head is you do these stupid things."

Emily's jaw dropped and her eyes nearly bugged out of her head, did her mother really just say that? That was nasty, even for her mother. She didn't know what to think right then, part of her was beyond pissed, while the other part was just hurt.

Beside her Matt was also stunned into silence, he couldn't believe she just said that. He turned to Emily, and watched as she closed her eyes a moment and took a deep breath, either trying to cry or yell, he was sure which. He gave her hand a soft little squeeze, as if to tell her that what her mother said meant nothing to him, and soon he felt her grip on his hand tighten.

"Mom how long do you think we've been dating?" Emily slowly asked, trying to keep calm.

"I don't know."

"We've been dating two and a half years. Now I know we don't talk a whole lot, but I think I've mentioned him enough for you to know it's more than just 'time under the sheets.'" She said, gesturing with air quotes.

"Relax Emily, you can't blame your mother for not remembering your boyfriends' names when none of them last that long." Her father scolded her again.

"But when I've been saying the same name for the past two years?" She challenged him.

"Well, between you and your sisters we can't remember who said which name, the two of you have had so many boyfriends it feels like a revolving door to us." Her mother defended.

"Oh god," Emily said mortified, "you two make it sound like I'm the town tramp."

"Of course we don't think that, stop being so melodramatic," her mother reprimanded her.

"Okay," Emily said, her grip tightening on Matt's hand, as she tried to remain calm, "We got married last week."

"What?" her mother gapped.

"We eloped mom. Had a short ceremony in Fiji."

"Emily Caroline, you can't just get married on a whim. It doesn't work that way." He father said, shooting a pointed look at Matt, who been silent for the time, but chose to speak now and give Emily a break.

"It wasn't a whim sir. I asked her to marry me three weeks ago." He held up Emily's engagement ring clad hand as proof.

"How could you not tell us that?" Her mother accused, as both her parents faces shot toward her.

"I was going to tell you last Saturday. I didn't want to tell you on the phone." She hoped that would placate her parents.

"So you just ran off and got married? Emily, of the stupid things you've done…" She trailed off, not needing to fill in the ending.

"Wow mom, you're really on a roll today," Emily spit out sarcastically, "first getting involved with Matt was stupid, then marrying him was stupid. I don't even think I know what to say to that-" Emily paused suddenly before continuing, "You know what? Actually I do. Did it ever occur that I love him? Does that even matter to you?"

It was clear to Matt that Emily was just hurt now by her parents' reaction, and he didn't really know what to do. She'd obviously had issues with her parents before this, so he'd just been letting her argue it out with them- they weren't really talking to him anyway- but now he was getting tired of them attacking her.

"Of course it matters Emily, but…your partner?" Her mother asked with an expression that showed a strong distaste.

"What? What is so wrong with that?"

"It's tacky," her father answered bluntly.

Once again newlyweds sat in stunned silence. Emily had know it would be bad, but this bad? Not even she could have predicated that.

"I'm sorry you're so disappointed, but I won't apologize for falling in love and I won't apologize for getting married. And you can damn well bet I won't apologize for getting pregnant." Emily had finally reached her breaking point, and by now she was seething.

Her parents just stared at her in shock. It wasn't horrified shock, but it wasn't particularly happy shock either, it was just straightforward, gaping shock.

"Is that why you eloped?" Her father finally asked.

"No, we were going to elope anyway. This just gave us incentive to do it sooner rather than later."

"When is your due date?" Her mother suddenly seemed much less angry.

"I haven't been to see my doctor yet, but from what they told me at the hospital I'm about six weeks along."

"Hospital?"

"Yeah, I fainted at work and they took me to the hospital, that's how we found out," Emily answered, hoping the more civil mood that seemed to have descended upon them at the mention of the baby would last.

"And what do you have to say for yourself?" Her father asked, suddenly turning toward Matt with an accusatory look.

Of course it couldn't last, could it?

"Sir?" Matt wasn't quite sure what he was asking.

"Well, you married my daughter without her family there and got her pregnant, and we barely know you? How should we feel about you?" He demanded.

Matt was about to answer when Emily suddenly jumped up and fled from the room, her hand placed firmly over her mouth. Too worried to care about not offending the people in front of him, Matt ran off after her, hoping she was okay.

Once inside the house it didn't take him long to figure what she'd run in for, as he immediately heard the painful, strained sounds of vomiting. Unfamiliar with the layout of the house, he was left to use the horrid noises as a guide to her location. The closer he got the louder it was and the worse it sounded, until he was at the door and instead of the sounds of regurgitation he heard the toilet flushing.

"Hey Em, you alright?" he called through the door. He heard her grunt from the other side, followed by the sound of the water running, and then she finally came out.

"I was wondering when that was going to start," she muttered, suddenly looking very tired. She'd managed to go the first six weeks of her pregnancy with no morning sickness, but now that was evidently over.

"Didn't think you'd be lucky enough for another six weeks?" He asked with half grin.

She just shook her head, not looking very well at all.

"How about we get you some water before we go back out there?"

"Sounds good," she nodded. Matt started to lead the way to the kitchen, then stopped, suddenly remembering he had no idea which way to go.

"Uh, how do we get to the kitchen?" he asked sheepishly.

Emily laughed lightly at him, before grabbing his hand, and leading him through the house. Once in the kitchen, Emily went straight for the cabinet with the glasses, not bothering to wait and watch Matt try and find it in the name of chivalry. She filled it half way and took a long drink, letting it wash through her, bringing relief to her stinging throat.

"Feel a little better now?"

She nodded her head a few times, before suddenly stopping. She turned toward the direction of the bathroom, and for a minute Matt thought she was going to bolt. Instead, apparently deciding that she wouldn't make it in time, Emily turned back toward the sink, and once again began heaving away her stomach contents. This time Matt stood behind her holding her hair behind her, as she braced herself against the sink, and rubbing soothing circles in her back. After a few painful minutes she stopped retching, rinsed the sink and her mouth out, and dried her face and hands with the paper towel Matt handed her.

"Are you alright now?" he asked softly, concern reflected in his eyes.

She just looked at him like he'd asked an immeasurably stupid question, and once again picked up the glass, this time only taking a small sip to cool her throat, before dumping the rest of the liquid down the drain. Then she leaned against the sink with her hands, closing her eyes against the nausea that still plagued her stomach, trying desperately to will it away. Matt began rubbing circles along her back again, and Emily turned and leaned into him.

What the couple wasn't aware of was that they'd had an audience since Emily had begun throwing up the second time. Emily's parents had become worried after they didn't come out after a few minutes, and went in after them. Now they stood off to the side watching the tender scene before them.

"Do you want to go home now?" Matt asked Emily, as he ran a hand over her hair.

"I don't know," she mumbled miserably into his shoulder.

"Do you still feel sick?" He spoke to her bowed head.

"Yes," she mumbled again.

"Okay, then I'm taking you home. You're parents will have to finish yelling at us another day," he said cheekily, while resting a hand on her back, turning them both to head toward the patio. It was then that they saw her parents.

"Hey, we were just coming back out. The morning sickness thing just hit Emily, she's still feeling pretty sick. We're going to have to cut this short," Matt explained.

The older couple nodded at him, suddenly looking a bit guilty, likely for the hard time they'd given their daughter and her husband. Their daughter, who'd they'd just seen vomiting her guts up for the second time in ten minutes, and now stood tiredly beside her very supportive husband.

"Alright sweetie, you'll call me next week?" Her mother asked.

"Sure mom, I'll give you a call."

"Oh before you go, we'd like to throw you guys a reception. And, Emily I won't take any protests, we didn't get to see a wedding, but you can damn well bet we're seeing a reception."

Emily looked to Matt, who nodded with resignation.

"Sure mom, that would be great," she said plastering a fake smile on her face.

"Good, we'll talk about it when you call," she said giving her daughter and son-in-law a kiss on the cheek.

"Take care of yourself Emily," her father hugged her tightly and kisses her on the cheek, before turning and shaking Matt's hand, "Matt."

Matt nodded, offering his own firm shake. Soon the couple was out the door, all too gratefully. Emily rested in the passenger seat trying to focus on anything but the gently swaying of the car, as it tested the strength of her tortured stomach. Matt tried to keep the car as steady as possible, occasionally looking over toward Emily, just he incase he needed to pull over.

"I suppose that could have gone worse…somehow," she said.

"Yeah, well there were a few moments I was afraid your father was going to pull out a shotgun or baseball bat or something."

"Oh stop, the macho, streetwise FBI agent is afraid of a sixty year-old man?" She teased him.

"You know what, a woman could never understand how frightening it is to tell a man, who already doesn't like him by the way, that he got his little girl pregnant."

"Maybe not, just be glad that I don't have seven brothers or something."

"That is not even funny."

She laughed at him and he joined her soon after, before she sobered up, and spoke quietly.

"It's going to be weird not working together next week."

"Yeah, that's going to suck. We don't really have any options though," he answered.

"I know, I guess we'll get used to it. We worked with other people for years before we met each other, right?" She said trying to reassure both of them.

"Yeah, I'm sure it will be fine. Besides, we live together, so we'll only see each other a little less…" he trailed of, not quite convinced himself.

"Sure, right."

"Right, okay."

"Okay."

They sat in awkward silence for a moment, until Matt reached out for her hand, bring it to his lips, before resting their joined hands on the console between them. Emily offer him a smile, and covered their hands with her other one. It would take some time to get used to all the changes that suddenly popped up in their lives, but they'd be just fine.

* * *

Okay this is the end of Saturday. I realize that I was a little harsh with Emily's parents, but that's more likely than not me projecting my annoyance with my own mother's overprotectiveness. Though she wouldn't be that mean/obnoxious, not sure what to call that. Anyway, the series (as it as become) will (hopefully) have one more part-full length story-where Emily has the baby, but I have four other full length stories that I have to find the time to crank out. So I hope this holds you all until then. You can at least expect another short story by the end of the week. As always, a very large thank you to all my readers, and especially reviewers, as everyone else says the more you review, the more impulse I have to write. 


End file.
